12-letter words containing e, p, i, s, t, o
- phrontistery — a place or establishment for thinking, studying, or learning
- phytogenesis — the origin and development of plants.
- picture show — motion picture.
- pigeon-chest — chicken breast.
- pirate coast — an independent federation in E Arabia, formed in 1971, now comprising seven emirates on the S coast (formerly, Pirate Coast or Trucial Coast) of the Persian Gulf, formerly under British protection: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah (joined 1972), and Fujairah. About 32,300 sq. mi. (83,657 sq. km). Capital: Abu Dhabi. Abbreviation: U.A.E.
- plainclothes — Plainclothes police officers wear ordinary clothes instead of a police uniform.
- pleiotropism — the condition of a gene affecting more than one characteristic of the phenotype
- pneumocystis — any protozoan of the genus Pneumocystis, esp P. carinii, which is a cause of pneumonia in people whose immune defences have been lowered by drugs or a disease
- pocket-sized — If you describe something as pocket-sized, you approve of it because it is small enough to fit in your pocket.
- poetastering — the profession of being a poetaster
- poeticalness — the characteristic of being poetical
- point source — a source of radiation sufficiently distant compared to its length and width that it can be considered as a point.
- point spread — a betting device, established by oddsmakers and used to attract bettors for uneven competitions, indicating the estimated number of points by which a stronger team can be expected to defeat a weaker team, the point spread being added to the weaker team's actual points in the game and this new figure then compared to the stronger team's points to determine winning bets.
- point system — Printing. a system for grading the sizes of type bodies, leads, etc., that employs the point as a unit of measurement. Compare point (def 48a).
- point-spread — a betting device, established by oddsmakers and used to attract bettors for uneven competitions, indicating the estimated number of points by which a stronger team can be expected to defeat a weaker team, the point spread being added to the weaker team's actual points in the game and this new figure then compared to the stronger team's points to determine winning bets.
- police state — a nation in which the police, especially a secret police, summarily suppresses any social, economic, or political act that conflicts with governmental policy.
- poliorcetics — the science of siegecraft
- polish wheat — a wheat, Triticum polonicum, grown chiefly in S Europe, N Africa, and Turkestan.
- politicaster — an ill-suited or disliked politician
- polycentrism — the doctrine that a plurality of independent centers of leadership, power, or ideology may exist within a single political system, especially Communism.
- polyneuritis — inflammation of several nerves at the same time; multiple neuritis.
- polytheistic — pertaining to, characterized by, or adhering to polytheism, the doctrine that there is more than one god or many gods: Science thrived in the polytheistic culture of ancient Greece.
- pontificates — the office or term of office of a pontiff.
- poodle skirt — 1950s-style woman's circular skirt
- positive ion — an electrically charged atom or group of atoms formed by the loss or gain of one or more electrons, as a cation (positive ion) which is created by electron loss and is attracted to the cathode in electrolysis, or as an anion (negative ion) which is created by an electron gain and is attracted to the anode. The valence of an ion is equal to the number of electrons lost or gained and is indicated by a plus sign for cations and a minus sign for anions, thus: Na + , Cl−, Ca ++ , S = .
- positive law — customary law or law enacted by governmental authority (as distinguished from natural law).
- positiveness — explicitly stated, stipulated, or expressed: a positive acceptance of the agreement.
- positivities — the state or character of being positive: a positivity that accepts the world as it is.
- post-it note — a small square of sticky paper on which notes can be written
- post-tussive — of or relating to a cough.
- post-weaning — to accustom (a child or young animal) to food other than its mother's milk; cause to lose the need to suckle or turn to the mother for food.
- postaccident — occurring after an accident
- postage paid — stamped ready for mailing
- postcardlike — (of a scene) resembling a postcard
- postdeadline — the time by which something must be finished or submitted; the latest time for finishing something: a five o'clock deadline.
- postdelivery — of, relating to, or occurring after a delivery
- postelection — the selection of a person or persons for office by vote.
- poster child — a child appearing on a poster for a charitable organization.
- poster paint — an opaque, water-based, typically bright-colored paint with a glue-size or gum binder, that is suitable for use on posters and is usually packaged in jars.
- posteriority — the state or quality of being posterior.
- posteruptive — occurring after a volcanic eruption
- postexercise — bodily or mental exertion, especially for the sake of training or improvement of health: Walking is good exercise.
- postfeminist — relating to or occurring in the period after the feminist movement of the 1970s.
- postimperial — of, relating to, or designating the period after an empire
- postischemic — occurring after or due to ischaemia
- postliterate — of or relating to a (hypothetical) time or stage in society when literacy is no longer necessary or valued
- postmedieval — occurring or existing after the Middle Ages, of or related to the period after the Middle Ages
- postmeridian — of or relating to the afternoon.
- postmistress — a woman in charge of a post office.
- postpositive — (of a word, particle, or affix) placed after a word to modify it or to show its relation to other elements of a sentence.